Schoolgirl who died of an Ecstasy overdose at house party begged friends not to call ambulance

The schoolgirl who died of an Ecstasy overdose after finding pills at a
lecturer's home pleaded with friends not to call an ambulance because she
was afraid about getting into trouble, an inquest heard.

Isobel Reilly-Jones, right, died after allegedly taking drugs at a party at the home in Notting Hill of Brian Dodgeon, leftPhoto: INS/MET POLICE

Isobel Jones-Reilly, 15, and her friends found a whisky bottle stuffed with pink tablets after they went hunting for cannabis at the all-night party at the home of Brian Dodgeon, a researcher.

The teenager collapsed in a shaking fit and began foaming at the mouth after she swallowed two of the tablets.

Her friends eventually called an ambulance an hour later but she died in hospital despite being given eight shots of adrenalin and 28 cycles of CPR.

Westminster Coroner's court heard a post-mortem revealed she had an "extremely high" level of Ecstasy in her body of 9.96mg per kg.

Pathologist Dr Peter Wilkins said a fatal dose ranged from between 0.18mg and 5mg.

Paula Sparks, representing Issy's family, asked Dr Wilkins if she could have been saved if doctors had got to her sooner but he said he was not in a position to say.

Dodgeon, 61, a lecturer at the University of London, admitted four charges of possessing drugs including Ecstasy, LSD and ketamine. He was not at the home at the time.

One friend told the inquest they found the drugs after going in search of a cannabis stash which they heard was in the house in upmarket Kensington, west London.

The boy, who cannot be named, reached into a wardrobe cupboard as he was the only one tall enough and found a tubelike container with "numerous bags of pills and powder" inside.

He said: "Issy took one of the pills out of the bag and was looking at it. People were discussing taking them. I was against it as we didn't know what they were."

The teenager said he saw Issy take one of the pills with a beer and that no one forced her to take it. She later told another friend she had taken another one.

Initially she seemed fine but later became sweaty and kept pacing around in circles.

The friend said: "Around 3am she was breathing heavily. She was quite panicky. Her jaw was moving as well. I looked it up on the internet and thought it must be Ecstasy.

"She started to get really hot and sweaty and went upstairs to lay down. We said should we call an ambulance but Issy said no."

An ambulance was eventually called just before 4am after she suffered a fit and started foaming at the mouth but by the time paramedics arrived she was unconscious.

Dodgeon, who owned the house where the tragedy happened, later admitted the drugs which included Ecstasy, LSD and the horse tranquilliser ketamine were his and was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years last December.

Unable to live with the guilt he tried to commit suicide by jumping off a flyover a week after Issy's death but survived, breaking both his legs.

Dodgeon was a research fellow at the internationally renowned Centre for Longitudinal Studies, part of the University of London's Institute of Education.

Giving evidence at the start of a three day inquest into her daughter's death Issy's distraught mother Lynne Jones said she would never have let her go to the party if she had known if was going to be unsupervised.

She said: "I realise now that I was naive. I never asked if adults were going to be there. I just can't understand why people would leave children unsupervised. This is what feels so painful for us. We've gone over and over it since Issy died."

Describing her daughter as a "lovely, warm, friendly girl who was just a normal teenager," she said Issy, who suffered from ADHD, had encountered problems at school.

The inquest heard she was referred to a drugs and alcohol key worker after turning up at school under the influence of cannabis but was not deemed to be high risk.

The key worker Joyce Akopheneta said Issy had been making good progress and was "happy" the last time she saw her a month before she died.

Three other friends who were at the party also took the pills but survived.